


Just Another Player

by crystal_aces



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 05:05:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystal_aces/pseuds/crystal_aces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just another night with the Brotherhood without Banners, drinking and joking, until suddenly it's not. What will Arya do when Gendry is gone? What is a wolf without her bull? And why could this possibly change everything?</p>
<p>Set during Season 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Another Player

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first GoT fanfic. It's kind of AU-ish, but not very much. I hope you enjoy it!

She stood there, mouth agape as she tried to process the words spoken to her, and couldn't. "Leaving?"

Gendry stood on the opposite of the room, gaze solely focused on the glass of wine in his hand. He couldn't bear to see the look on her face, much less how intense her grey eyes must have been. He nodded his head, swirling the wine around in his cup.

"I was asked to be a guest of the King and Queen at King's Landing," he said before lifting the cup up to his mouth and drinking. For some reason, the usually welcomed liquid had difficulty going down. 

"What? Why?" she asked, her voice rising. "Gendry, it can't possibly be safe for you to go. Are you stupid?"

Knowing that Arya's hurt had morphed into inevitable anger gave Gendry the courage to finally look up at her. His bright blue eyes found her stormy grey ones, making it feel like they were much closer than on opposite sides of the room.

"No, I'm not stupid. I weighed my options."

"And you decided leaving was the best option to pick," she said, uttering it as a statement, an underlying tone of hurt laced in each word. 

Gendry looked at her silently for a moment. He knew her too well after all their time spent together. He figured that by now, he knew her better than he had known anyone his whole life. Her face was well guarded, closed off to any emotions, something she was prone to do when she felt overwhelmed by them. But even under the blank look in her eyes, he could see the vulnerability. He felt a slow burning in his chest, probably more than there should have been. 

"They tell me I'm the bastard son of the late King Robert," he finally said, gauging her reaction. 

Her face stayed blank before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The confusion shifted into anger before he could even take another breath. 

"And you believe them?" she asked, her entire face contorting with incredulity. "Just because they say something doesn't mean it's true!"

"You don't think I know that?" he asked, his face hardening as he slammed the cup on the table next to him so hard that half the wine sloshed out. "I know better than anyone else! I'm lowborn. I don't need you to remind me, Lady Arya! I have scars and burns and calluses to remind me every day!"

Arya glared at him, stalking up to the table that divided them. She put both her hands on the table, leaning towards him with a storm brewing in her grey eyes. "This has nothing to do with that, and you very well know it! The problem is that going into a lion's den with a cloak over your eyes leads to a bull's bloody head on a stake, hanging proudly over the castle walls!"

It was quiet after Arya's exclamation. Both glared at each other intensely, eyes fighting for dominance and jaws clenched tight. 

"Would it be so terrible?" he finally asked after long moments of silence between the two, his voice no louder than a whisper, his blue eyes a sea of vulnerability despite the tenseness of his body. 

At Arya's confused look, Gendry looked down at his callused hands that had hardened after so many years of hard labor. "If I were King Robert's bastard, would it be so terrible?" he repeated, the fight leaving his body with each passing second until he was slightly curled in on himself. "Is it so hard to believe I could be anything more than just a blacksmith's apprentice?"

In that moment Arya thought there could not possibly be anyone more stupid in the Seven Kingdoms then the bull standing right in front of her. 

Gendry didn't notice she had stormed around the table until she was right in front of him and had punched him on the shoulder. 

"Ow!" Gendry exclaimed, his blue eyes widening in shock. 

"You are the absolute most idiotic and bull-headed person I've ever met!" Arya uttered in annoyance. Gendry opened his mouth to respond, but she kept going. "Being a blacksmith's apprentice is nothing to sneer at. You work hard at something you love. You're worth 10 times more than all those fools in King's Landing."

"Then what's the problem?" Gendry asked softly, staring down at her small figure. 

"The problem is if you go there you're putting yourself at risk! Is it worth it? Is finding out if you're his bastard worth your safety?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "Yes, it is. I know he was a drunken fool that cared more about what was going on under women's skirts than his own family, and that he had more than enough bastards to make an entire Kingdom, but it matters. Because at least I'll know. I'll know who my father was, even if he was some fat half-wit. At least then I'll know who to blame for the destruction of my life, and my mother's."

Arya regarded him, understanding painted plain as day on her facial features. Her heart went out to him. Even though she had always despised her high position in society, there was no denying that it had saved her from trouble on countless occassions. It had providd her with wealth, though she cared very little for it, and a grand place for her and her family to live. She had been raised along side her mother and father, whom she loved dearly and had an abundance of respect for. She also knew the heaviness that anger and revenge placed on the heart. Since the day her father had been murdered, there had only been thoughts of revenge and uncontainable anger within her. At least she knew the names of all the people that were to blame,  making her plot for revenge all the more easier. Looking at Gendry, his sad blue eyes piercing her soul, she realized that he had never known any of those comforts. Who was she to stop him from finally finding it?

"I understand," she whispered gently. "And if you are the fool's bastard, what then? Cersei will have you killed - if Joffrey doesn't send the guard dogs after your arse first. And if you somehow manage to escape death, do you plan on fighting Joffrey for the crown? Once you get a taste of the power and riches and women, will you be able to give it all up? For I know too well that once you immerge yourself in that life you're just another player in their stupid game of thrones! And the only way out of the game is when your blood stops flowing and your heart stops beating."

Without realizing, Arya had progressively gotten louder as she spoke. When she finished, Gendry was shocked by the blazing passion in her grey eyes. Her face was more serious than he had ever seen it and he knew without question that she must have been thinking about her father. 

Reaching over, he brushed some stray strands of her short hair behind her ear before lowering it and saying, "Arya, I only met your father once and I know without a doubt that he was an extraordinary man. Whatever he did, I'm sure he only did it with you and your family in mind."

Arya lowered her eyes from the soft look in his, focusing on the dirty floor beneath their feet. She couldn't handle the pity that was clear in his words. It made her feel much too vulnerable for her liking. 

When moments went by and she stayed silent, Gendry continued. "And you know me. Do you think I could ever let all that change me?"

She shook her head, eyes still trained on the ground. "No, but I'm so scared. You're the only person I have left. I don't know what I'll do when you're gone."

Gentle but strong fingers pulled at Arya's chin, forcing her to look up into eyes as blue as precious jewels. 

"You do what you've always done," he said, lifting his hand up to stroke her cheek. "You fight and stand tall and bare your teeth. Stags are hunters, lions are ruthless, and bulls are strong, but direwolves are the most dangerous of us all."


End file.
